A Resounding Success: Online ACDA Honor Choir Submissions

In yesterday's ChoralBlog, we read Tim Sharp's excellent preview of the 2011 ACDA National Conference in Chicago.  On the heels of that, I want to speak briefly about the audition process for the 2011 ACDA Honor Choirs in Chicago that ended on October 1st.  I want to take a moment to celebrate the process, because the effort was significant.  Nearly 4000 people submitted applications; those accepted will soon be notified of their selection.  

Here is my assessment of the new process:

1.  It was timely.

First, this process supports Executive Director Tim Sharp's vision to make ACDA an organization that is relevant in the 21st century and takes full advantage of current technology.  We also needed to do this to keep up with other musical organizations that have already made the transition to online MP3 submissions for the purpose of auditions – we needed to do this to keep up with the times.

2.  It was brave.

We took a big risk to modernize this process, and completely committed ourselves to the successful implementation of the system. This type of process could not have been done halfway (half old way and half new way).

3.  It was cost-effective.

This system was more cost-effective than previous methods of auditioning (postage, material, labor, time), and ACDA volunteers will literally save days of their time. The honor choir evaluators do not need to fly into Oklahoma City (or any city), and they will not spend days in a hotel away from their families.

4.  It was efficient.

The mail trucks are not deluging the ACDA national office with thousands of CD's during the days before and after the deadline.  The auditions are cataloged, are completely anonymous, and are immediately available for evaluation. The process no longer requires an additional week of sorting and media conversion by staff and volunteers.

5.  It was an overwhelming success.  The system processed close to 4000 applications with 2000 coming in the last 48 hours before the deadline.  I estimate that it would have taken hundreds, maybe thousands, of ACDA staff hours to process 4000 applications using the former methods.

6.  Emergence of outstanding volunteers.  Ryan Holder performed well above the call-of-duty in the one-on-one help aspect of this process, as did the rest of the Technology Committee.  Ryan was a vital part of answering problems quickly and efficiently.  He frequently had people send him their problem files so that he could fix them himself.   In addition, the ACDA National Staff and especially Craig Gregory professionally dealt with thousands of teachers, parents, and sometimes students, in presenting ACDA in the best light.

7.  The membership was well-informed about the submission process before it started and as it was going on:

a.  The ACDA Technology Committee met in retreat the summer of 2009 to carefully study all aspects of the process and create the plan for information distribution, timeline, and appropriate deadlines.

b.  The committee carefully engaged all aspects of ACDA involvement (R&S, Honor Choir Committee, Conference Committee, National Staff, Technology Committee, Executive Committee) in the decision to move in this direction.

c.  ACDA Website and Choral Journal announced the process and implementation six months ahead of the submission deadline.

d.  ChoralNet, ACDA's additional communication tool, reinforced the message. 

e.  Custom help videos and documents were created by ACDA members that were specific to this process, and were posted on the ACDA website, announced through ChoralNet, and available on YouTube.

f.  Additional help documents such a FAQ sheet were created as the process evolved to address specific needs.

8.  Compared to the number of submissions, there was a very low percentage of individual problems.  Most problems were solved with an email or phone conversation; membership issues were referred to the National ACDA office.   Every attempt was made to turn any problem into a teaching moment and opportunity to help the membership of ACDA move into a new technological reality.  Careful notes were taken to improve the process for the future.

We are excited about this year's success.  Like every other successful organization, we will evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the process and streamline it for future Honor Choirs.

In a rare move, I've disabled comments for this post but I don't want to stop communication.  If you have concerns that you'd like to pass on about the process, please communicate those directly with me or Tim Sharp.  

Congratulations, everyone!

Signed,

Philip L. Copeland

Chair, ACDA Technology Committee